Movably mounted mortar mixer

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for mixing materials in a tub having a mortar mixer movably mounted to a frame mountable to the tub. A frame is connected to the tub by a pair of clamps which engage the top and bottom edges of the tub. A vertical rod is threadedly received by the frame and is supported thereto by a hollow bearing cylinder fixedly supported above the frame. A sleeve encloses the bottom threaded end of the vertical rod. A horizontal rod is cantileveredly mounted to the vertical rod and slidably receives a carrier. An electric hand drill is suspendedly mounted to the carrier and has a rotatable shaft with a mixing blade mounted thereto. A blade protector is mounted to the shaft preventing damage to the blade. The carrier is slidable to and from the vertical rod and is rotatably mounted to the horizontal rod. The drill is rotatably mounted about an axis parallel to the horizontal rod and may be swung upwardly to disengage the mixing blade from the tub. A hook is mounted to the vertical rod for locking the drill in the upward position. The vertical rod is rotatable about a vertical axis.

{limited States Patent 11 1 Knott 51 Mar.27,1973

[541 MOVABLY MOUNTED MORTAR MIXER [76] Inventor: William J. Knott, PO. Box 279,

RR. No. 3, Richmond, Ind. 47374 [22] Filed: Nov. 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 196,545

[52] US. Cl ..259/178 R, 259/108, 259/111 [51] Int. Cl. ..B28c 5/16, B0lf 7/00 [58] Field of Search ..259/178 R, 178 A, 179, 102,

259/107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, DIG. 38

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 511,935 8/1939 GreatBritain ..259/108 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Jenkins Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe Attorney-l-larold R. Woodard 57 ABSTRACT An apparatus for mixing materials in a tub having a mortar mixer movably mounted to a frame mountable to the tub. A frame is connected to the tub by a pair of clamps which engage the top and bottom edges of the tub. A vertical rod is threadedly received by the frame and is supported thereto by a hollow bearing cylinder fixedly supported above the frame. A sleeve encloses the bottom threaded end of the vertical rod. A horizontal rod is cantileveredly mounted to the vertical rod and slidably receives a carrier. An electric hand drill is suspendedly mounted to the carrier and has a rotatable shaft with a mixing blade mounted thereto. A blade protector is mounted to the shaft preventing damage to the blade. The carrier is slidable to and from the vertical rod and is rotatably mounted to the horizontal rod. The drill is rotatably mounted about an axis parallel to the horizontal rod and may be swung upwardly to disengage the mixing blade from the tub. A book is mounted to the vertical rod for locking the drill in the upward position. The vertical rod is rotatable about a vertical axis.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented March 27, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

MOV ABLY MOUNTED MORTAR MIXER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This invention is the field of mixers.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is desirable to mix mortar on location at the construction site. In the past, large and immovable mixers were required to satisfactorily mix the mortar. Disclosed herein is a portable mixer which may be easily and quickly attached to a tub for mixing mortar. The apparatusdisclosed herein allows for the quick and easy positioning of the mixing blade at any position within the tub. In addition, a blade protector is disclosed for preventing the mixing blade from accidentally contacting the side wall of the tub. In the past, the mixing blades have been damaged by such contact with the tub.

The apparatus disclosed herein is designed so as to allow for the quick and easy assembly and disassembly of the apparatus and for the storing of the apparatus in a compact space. The mixing apparatus does not require a special motor to power the mixing blade but instead receives the conventional hand gun type of drill for driving the mixing blade. Three of the prior art mixers are disclosed in the following US. Pat. No.: 1,593,706 issued to F. O. Skoog; 3,185,451 issued to J. A. Snyder; and, 3,332,669.issued to A. Colonna.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for mixing materials in a tub comprising an upright frame mountable to the tub and having first means rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation, a first rod mounted to the means and extendingperpendicularly to the axis, a carrier slidably mounted to the rod and movable to and from the means along a horizontal axis, and second means suspendedly mounted to the carrier and rotatable about a second horizontal axis, the second means including a power driven mixing blade positionable in the tub for mixing materials.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved mixing apparatus.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a portable mortar mixer which is movably mounted to a tub so as to allow for the quick and easy positioning of the mixing 'blade at any position within the tub.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mortar mixer which may be easily and quickly assembled and disassembled and. stored in a compact area.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mortar mixing apparatus which allows the mixing blade to be swung easily out of a tub and which further provides means for preventing the blade from contacting the side wallof the tub.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view of an apparatus incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows showing the blade guard.

FIG. 3 is the same view as FIG. 1 only showing the mixer locked in the upward position so as to locate the blade externally of the tub.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown an apparatus 10 for mixing materials in a tub 11. Apparatus 10 has an upright frame 12 mountable to tub 11 with a first vertical rod 13 rotatable about a vertical axis 14'. Rod 13 is rotatably mounted to frame 12. The frame includes a rod 14 and a lower clamp 15. Clamp 15 has a hollow cylinder 16 fixedly mounted atop a bottom flange 17. Rod 14 is lockingly received and extends into cylinder 16 being secured therein by a standard fastening device 18. Flange 17 has an upward turned wall 19 which extends inside of and adjacent to side wall 20 of tub 11 as shown in fragmented area 21. Wall 19 is positioned at all times beneath bottom wall 22 of the tub. The lower edge portion or side wall 20 of tub 11 is lockingly received by bottom flange 17 and is secured to wall 19 by a standard fastening device 23 threadedly received by an upstanding bracket 24 fixedly mounted atop flange 17. The end of fastening device 23 abuts against the outside surface of the side wall of the tub.

A second clamp 25 is secured to rod 14 by welding or othersuitable means. The outer downward turned portion 27 of clamp 25 extends into tub ll as shown in fragmented area 26. Fastening device 29 extends threadedly through wall 28 of clamp 25 forcing the side wall of the tub against clamp portion 27. Clamp 25 which is fixedly mounted to rod 14 thereby is lockingly engageable with the top of tub 11.

The top end 30 of rod 14 is threadedly received by hollow cylinder 31. Likewise, the bottom threaded end 32 of rod 13 is threadedly received by cylinder 31. Ends 30 and 32 are spaced apart so as to allow rod 13 to rotate about axis 14' when the rod is threaded into and out of cylinder 31.

A second hollow cylinder 33 is fixedly connected to frame 12 by arms 34, 35 and 36. The bottom ends of arms 35 and 36 are fixedly connected by welding or other suitable means to clamp 25 whereas the top ends of arms 35 and 36 are fixedly connected to the opposite sides of cylinder 33. Arm 34 has a top end fixedly connected to cylinder 33 and a bottom end fixedly connected to rod 14. Hollow cylinder 33 is thereby fixedly A flexible sleeve 37, shown fragmented in FIG. 1, is mounted to cylinder 33 enclosing threaded end 32. Sleeve 37 extends from cylinder 33 down to the top end portion of cylinder 31. Thus, sleeve 37 protects the threads of rod 13 from accidental damage.

Rod 40 is i'lxedly mounted to rod 13 and extends perpendicularly therefrom'along horizontal axis 41. Rods 13 and 40 may be joined together by welding or other suitable means. Rod 13 is shown fragmented at area 42 to conserve drawing space. A carrier 43 is slidably mounted to rod 40 and is freely movable to and from rod 13 along horizontal axis 41. Rod 40 has a circular cross section with an outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of carrier 43 which also has a circular cross section. A handle 44 is mounted to carrier 43 to allow the operator to move the carrier to and from rod 13. Cylinder 45 is fixedly mounted to carrier 43 and is hollow receiving rod 46. Fastening devices 47 are threadedly received by cylinder 45 and may be threaded against rod 46 to secure the rod within the cylinder. Another cylinder 48 is fixedly mounted to the bottom end of rod 46 and receives threaded rod 49. At one end of rod 49 is mounted a standard electrical hand gun drill 50. Drill 50 has a rotatable shaft 51 with a mixing blade 52 affixed thereto. Threaded rod 49 is threadedly received by a suitable threaded aperture in drill 50 with the opposite end of the threaded rod extending through cylinder 48 and secured thereto by fastening pin 53. Shaft 49 is rotatable in cylinder 48 so as to allow for the pivoting of drill 50. Thus, means suspendedly mounted to carrier 43 is provided which includes a power driven mixing blade positionable in the tub for mixing materials therein. Gun 50 is rotatable about axis 54 which is parallel to axis 41. Axis 54 extends centrally through rod 49.

A blade protector 55 is mounted to shaft 51 to protect blade 52 from accidentally contacting the side walls of the tub. A top view of protector 55 is shown in FIG. 2. The blade protector includes a tubular ring 56, a cylinder 57 positioned centrally in ring 56 and a plurality of radially extending arms 58 mounting the ring to cylinder 57. Cylinder 57 'is loosely mounted to shaft 51 atop blade 52. Ring 56 extends outwardly of the blade to prevent the blade from contacting the tub side walls.

To remove the blade from the tub, gun 50 is rotated about axis 54, carrier 43 is rotated about axis 41 and rod 40 is rotated about axis 14'. The carrier is moved toward rod 13 until the drill shaft 51 is positioned externally of the tub as shown in FIG. 3. A hook is mounted to rod 13 and is engageable with rod 46 or cylinder 45 to hold the blade out of the tub when the carrier is positioned adjacent rod 13 and when the blade is pivoted above the carrier. The clamp has a cylinder 60 slidably received by rod 13 and secured thereto by a standard fastening device 61. A hook shaped rod 62 is fixedly mounted to cylinder 60 and extends outwardly to hook around rod 46 or cylinder 45.

The blade and tub design of the mixer disclosed herein allows for the complete mixing of the mortar. The round tub eliminates the inaccessible corners found in mixers utilizing a rectangular box. The blade is not the tapered screw-type blade found in the mixers of the prior art but rather is flat and coincides with the flat bottom wall of the tub. The small surface area of the tub facilitates easy cleaning. After a quantity of mortar is mixed, water is put into the tub. By churning the water, the tub is washed of the mortar deposits from the previous batch.

The uplift swing away arm easily lifts the mixing blade up out of the mortar. The three axes structure of the arm allows the blade to reach each square inch of the tub as well as operate at various levels in height. The power unit and blade can be secured out of the tub with the motion of one hand in a variety of positions. The drill can be removed without even the simplest of tools by removing the fastening pin 53. The drill can then be used for other purposes. No bolts or screws are used in adapting a drill to. the mixer. The entire carrier easily slides off of the horizontal rod and can be stored in a tool box or truck. Experience with a variety of operators show the mixer to be much faster and more efficient than the prior art devices. The mixer is more advantageous over the prior art mixers since it is portable and since it mixes less air into the mortar since the mixing blade is always submerged beneath the surface of the mortar. Low maintenance is incurred because of fewer moving parts as compared to the prior art devices and the conventional mortar box is not required.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for mixing materials in a tub comprising:

an upright frame mountable to said tub and having first means rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation;

a first rod mounted to said means and extending perpendicularly to said axis;

a carrier slidably mounted to said rod and movable to and from said means along a horizontal axis; and, second means suspendedly mounted to said carrier and rotatable about a second horizontal axis, said second means includes a power driven mixing blade positionable in said tub for mixing materials.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said frame includes a second rod and a lower clamp,

said clamp has a hollow cylinder and a bottom flange connected together, said second rod is lockingly received by said cylinder and said tub has a lower edge portion lockingly received by said I bottom flange.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said first means includes a second rod with a bottom threaded end; and,

said frame includes a threaded portion in meshing engagement with said threaded end and includes a hollow cylinder fixedly connected to said frame and positioned above said threaded portion bearingly receiving said second rod as said second rod rotates and meshes with said threaded portion.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 and further comprising:

a sleeve mounted to said cylinder enclosing said threaded end and extending from said cylinder to said threaded portion; and,

a clamp fixedly mounted to said frame and lockingly engageable with the top of said tub.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said second means includes a cylinder mounted to said carrier and a threaded rod rotatably received by said cylinder, said second means also includes an electric hand gun drill mounted to said threaded rod, said drill has a rotatable shaft with said blade affixed thereto.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 and further comprising:

a blade protector including a ring, a second cylinder positioned in said ring, and means mounting said ring to said second cylinder, said second cylinder is loosely mounted to said shaft atop said blade, said ring extends outwardly of said blade to prevent said blade from contacting the side walls of said tub.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said carrier is rotatable about said first rod; and

further comprising:

third means mounting said second means to said carrier; and,

a hook mounted to said first means being engageable with said third means to hold said blade out of said tub when said carrier is positioned adjacent said first means and said third means is pivoted above said carrier. 

1. An apparatus for mixing materials in a tub comprising: an upright frame mountable to said tub and having first means rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation; a first rod mounted to said means and extending perpendicularly to said axis; a carrier slidably mounted to said rod and movable to and from said means along a horizontal axis; and, second means suspendedly mounted to said carrier and rotatable about a second horizontal axis, said second means includes a power driven mixing blade positionable in said tub for mixing materials.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said frame includes a second rod and a lower clamp, said clamp has a hollow cylinder and a bottom flange connected together, said second rod is lockingly received by said cylinder and said tub has a lower edge portion lockingly received by said bottom flange.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said first means includes a second rod with a bottom threaded end; and, said frame includes a threaded portion in meshing engagement with said threaded end and includes a hollow cylinder fixedly connected to said frame and positioned above said threaded portion bearingly receiving said second rod as said second rod rotates and meshes with said threaded portion.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 and further comprising: a sleeve mounted to said cylinder enclosing said threaded end and extending from said cylinder to said threaded portion; and, a clamp fixedly mounted to said frame and lockingly engageable with the top of said tub.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said second means includes a cylinder mounted to said carrier and a threaded rod rotatably received by said cylinder, said second means also includes an electric hand gun drill mounted to said threaded rod, said drill has a rotatable shaft with said blade affixed thereto.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 and further comprising: a blade protector including a ring, a second cylinder positioned in said ring, and means mounting said ring to said second cylinder, said second cylinder is loosely mounted to said shaft atop said blade, said ring extends outwardly of said blade to prevent said blade from contacting the side walls of said tub.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said carrier is rotatable about said first rod; and further comprising: third means mounting said second means to said carrier; and, a hook mounted to said first means being engageable with said third means to hold said blade out of said tub when said carrier is positioned adjacent said first means and said third means is pivoTed above said carrier. 